i-PROGNOSIS proof of concept pitched in front of investors in Brussels

The Occitanie Europe regional office hosted an engaging side event to the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy AgeingConference of Partners on 26 February 2018. AGE Platform Europe and HOPE invited three EU-funded H2020 projects FrailSafe, i-PROGNOSIS and ICT4Life to present their ICT-based solutions to public and private investors interested in exploiting innovative technologies in health and care.

The event was kindly moderated by Sergio Ferreira, coordinator of the INNOLABS project and working for Norway Health Tech. After an introductory note from Occitanie Europe given by Marie Vaugeois reminding the participants about the potential of digital innovation to enhance healthcare in times of challenges through an ageing population Sergio set the scene for the event.

Working for an EU project dedicated to support SMEs willing to launch their innovation to the health market, he stressed the factors that could explain the limiting use of new solutions and their uptake in the market before giving the floor to the three pitchers.

An unobtrusive and cheap pre-diagnosis tool for Parkinson’s

Manuel Pacheco from PLUX pitched the i-PROGNOSIS proof of concept by showing the audience how phones are now smart enough to help detect early signs of Parkinson’s and improve the quality of life of people living with the disease (see his presentation). i-PROGNOSIS is indeed developing a mobile application which supports unobtrusive data collection of all-day life situations to understand the symptoms of early onset of the disease better and support further research on the prevention of the condition.

Manuel Pacheco pitching the i-PROGNOSIS solutions

The absence of blood test methods for early diagnosis and the high impact of non-medical interventions make the i-PROGNOSIS solutions even more needed both for people living with Parkinson’s and healthcare professionals. By using our smartphones are cheap pre-diagnosis tools, i-PROGNOSIS solutions have the potential to reach high impact for people’s quality of life.

Technologies preventing frailty and dementia

ICT4Life was presented by Alejandro Sánchez-Rico de Heras, from Artica Telemedicina, who stressed out the radically new approach offered regarding self-care and integrated care for patients affected by Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other dementia. ICT tools like apps, sensors and smart TV enable connection between patients, care-givers and healthcare professionals. More about ICT4Life

FrailSafe was presented by Vasilis Megalooikonomou, from the University of Patras, who described how a better understanding and measuring of frailty can be achieved by using dedicated devices which monitor older people data on their behavioral, cognitive and physiological status. More about FrailSafe